Apparatus for cleaning boiler-tubes.



IVI. K. BOWII/IAN.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE III9I9.

1 ,325,348i Pamd Dec. 16,1919.

INVENTOR filari. A. Bah/mam ATTORNEY i preferably comprises a tubular body teuren ELPEARATUS FOR CLEANING BLER-TUBES.

Application filed guns 1l, 1919.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, MARK K. Bowman, a citizen ot' the United States, and resident oi llloutclair, in the countyof Fieses and State ot New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements iniipparatus for Cleaning Boiler-Tubes, oi which the following is a specification.

My present invention is an improved device of the above type whereby in one opera tion a dirty boiler tube may be roughscraped, wire-brushed, wiped and air dusted, perfectly cleaned, by a single pass of the cleaner. lt will be understood, however, that in special cases, where the tube is rusted or the deposit otherwise hardened in place, there is no reason why repeated passes of the cleaner should not be made.

My invention for this purpose may be more fully understood from the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in whi 'li- Figure l is a side elevation ot' a boiler of ordinary type broken away to show one et the tubes in longitudinal section, with the cleaner and propelling apparatus applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section ci* the cleaner taken on the line Qfl of 3'; and y Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation oit the cleaner.

As shown in these drawings the cleaner comprises a front scraper disk l of slightly less diameter than the tube to be cleaned, a wire brush 2 in the rear ot said. scraper of slightly greater diameter than said tube and in the rear of the brush a cup washer 3 preferably or leather ot less diameterthan the brush but ot greater diameter than the scraper and preferably i'itting the tube to be cleaned.

The above essential elements are structur ally united and held concentric with single axis by suitable means. As shown in the drawings, the brush and scraper are in the form of a separable reversible unit resembling a spool against one end oi which the cup washer 3 is clamped by bolt l extending through the spool and cup washer clamoing disk 5. The brush and scraper u nit lnortion end and.

6 having the disk l secured at the similar disk lE at the other ene @ne or both ci these dislis nay Specification of Letters Fatent.

ftlirou e Serial No. 303.425.

threaded to permit application and removal of the cylindrical wire brush 2.

"Wire brush 2 preferably consists of wire disks l, la. The clearance behind disk 1 af- Patented Dec. le, 1919.

' 60 y l preferably providea clearance space as shown between the brush wires and the end iords space for considerable accumulation 'i et soot, etc., before there will be any tend-` ency to press the brush wires backward. T he clearance space between the brush wires and disk lJi permits the rearmost wires to bend rearwardly the maximum amount required without danger of causing them to bend too sharply around the edges of said disk la. f

The wire bristles of the-brush are quite long and are protected for a considerable portion of their length by the scraper 1 for the purpose and with the result that when passing through a dirty tube, they cannot be bent backward sharply enough to produce an immediate permanent set as might otherwise be the case. Nevertheless, even with the proportions shown, the wire tips quickly become worn oit on a smooth bevel and, with the interior springiness of materials commonly available for this purpose, are apt to take a certain amount o set parti@ ularly when used on very dirty tubes. When this occurs, it is only necessary to remove bolt 4f, reverse the spool so that disk 1 becomes a washer clamping disk and disk l* the advance scraper disk. Similar reversal may be resorted to if the disk l becomes bent or worn by use. f'

The construction shown permits of easy and q aiclt renewal of either disk or of the brush or et the' cup washer whenever any of them become worn or-damaged.

The above described cleaner 1s forced by hand or suitable tool a short distance into one or" elle tubes 10 of the boiler 11. Behind it is then inserted nozzle 12 connected by pipe 1 withya compressed air supply 14 controlled by valve l5 and also by a valve le the nozzle. The nozzle 12 ma be provided. with an exterior rubber pac ing to make it lt the tube tightly' if desired, but where considerable air pressure, say 90 pounds, is avail-able, the impact of the air iet will be sucient to drive the cleaner velos eren a dirty tube at extremely high Whenv so driven, the tube is rough-scraped by disk 1, clean-brushed by brush Wires 2, wiped by cup washer 3 and finally blown clean by air blast from 12.

The high velocity operation is particularly desirable since `in such case the projectile quality (momentum times tbe square of the Velocity) will easily^ carry the projectile through badly obstructed points in the tube where a slow movi-ng; cleaner would stick.

The smaller diameter of front disk l, the

"...i'lexibly changeable diameter of the brush "'wres l2, and the longitudinal fiexibility of the. cup washer` all coperate to give the device special facility for guiding itself around bent portions of the tubes ot' Water-tube. boilers.

I clalm:

l. A tube cleaning' projectile of the classy described, comprising` a piston and wiper element, a cylindrical Wire brush element in advance of the piston element, and a radially projecting disk between the piston element and the brush element, the brush element being of greater diameter, and the dslcof smaller diameter than the piston element, said brush element, being spaced such material distance from the disk as will pelmit the brush elements to overlap the dis i.

2. A tube-cleaning projectile of the class described, comprising a piston element and abrush element, the brush element consisting of a cylindrical wire brush and a spoollike member on which the latter is su ,ported having similar radially projecting .scraper disks at its ends, 1n combination with means for rei'ersibly securing said spool to said piston element.

. Signed at New York city` in the 'county of New York and State of New York, this 9th day of June, A. D. 1919,

MARK K. BOWMAN. 

